Pairings: Duo/Heero, Quatre/Trowa

Warnings: possibilities of later violence, supernatural stuff, kinky moments, guns...um...gundams, implied sex, men in drag

Author's comment: Sorry it's been a little while on this update. x.x I had some work stress I had to deal with in the past two weeks. Lol which makes me glad I didn't upload this sooner cause I made some major changes to it...not that you'll ever know what those were. ^^ Enjoy.

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Operation Blank Conspiracy 37

The big birthday bash was going by without a hitch. With the cameras the three of them had set up upon their first arrival at the palace, surveillance seemed to be a cinch. Duo left the handy work of watching the cameras to Heero and the others considering that he had to play maid to the groups of rich men and women attending the birthday bash.

The queen sat at the main table wearing a short blue dress that made her look more like her real age than some militant member. She was stuck in a boring conversation with higher up people that Duo would rather not be bothered with. But they seemed to be members of the UESA who supported Sanc Kingdom. But that wasn't really his job to be concerned with. Rather, he was just supposed to pass out snacks, pour drinks, and keep an eye out for anything suspicious.

That something suspicious came in the form of a woman with long blond hair and some of the weirdest eyebrows he'd ever seen. They looked like they were glued on, not even matching the rest of her hair. She spoke to the queen who frowned at whatever the conversation was about before the two of them were leaving out of the ballroom through the back, completely unnoticed.

"Duo, keep an eye on her," Heero said into his earpiece.

Duo just nodded and sat the tray down before he was moving, the clack of his heels being drowned out thanks to the sound of music and the chattering of the guests that filled the large room. People were out on the ballroom floor dancing and spinning with their partners in a waltz. Not exactly something he enjoyed himself. It went completely unnoticed by him though as he kept heading for the door.

Slipping out into the hallway, it didn't take but the doors closing behind him to drown out the sound. There were maids and butlers walking around with a purpose as they went about their task of supplying food and serving their guest. But Duo wasn't doing any of that. He had his own task to take care of. A mission to be exact that was a lot more important than refilling someone's wine glass.

"Head for the queen's chamber," Heero's voice said.

"Roger that," Duo said softly in return before starting to walk. They had cameras set up everywhere throughout the whole palace. They were easy for him to tap into since he had them connected to his own laptop as well.

"Hn…one of the cameras just went out."

"I'll be on the lookout," Duo said frowning. That wasn't good. It meant someone had found it and knocked it out. He slipped his hand underneath his skirt pulling free the gun hidden there. This part of the hallway was quiet and a lot darker thanks to the lights overhead being out. Someone must have cut the power to this area. He found himself easing out of the heels leaving them against the wall. He made sure the safety was off on the gun before continuing on, the soft padding sound of stocking covered feet absent from his walk. This was more the territory he was used to working, sneaking around unseen.

"Be careful," Heero's voice said into his ear. Duo nodded though he was sure from Heero's speaking that he must be in the dead zone. No one else was around here. It was deadly silent. He should be almost to the queen's bedroom. Slowing down, he eased up beside the door pressing his ear close listen for some kind of sound inside. Nothing. He heard nothing. That couldn't be good. It also couldn't be good that there were no guards standing watch by the door, only the small evidence of blood left behind.

Duo eased the door open slowly, peeking in seeing the glow of light coming from the restroom. No bodies around the room. What happened to the guards then? But then why didn't he hear any voices? Or was Relena alone?

He could have called out but he didn't. Why hadn't any of the guards followed her back? Had they been taken out? He heard something collapse on the floor and frowned rushing towards the restroom. A peek around the corner showed the queen laid out on the floor. The woman he'd seen before was standing over her. She was on the phone and Duo hoped Heero could still see and hear everything through the earpiece.

"…I've got the queen…no she hasn't been harmed." The woman moved slowly, her heels clicking lightly on the ground as she spoke on the phone at her ear. It was the same girl he'd seen talking to Relena earlier. He took satisfaction in knowing that the queen was unhurt. "I understand. We will prepare for transport immediately."

Wait…we?

Duo's whole body trembled as he heard that annoying buzzing in his ear. He yelled out without meaning to, the earpiece being knocked from his ear as he pushed his palms against them trying to block the sound. He wasn't sure if Heero could still hear him, didn't care as he tried desperately to block the sound. His brain felt like it was going to start boiling. He felt the blood starting to dribble from his nose, his eyes rolling in his head showing only the whites. He collapsed unable to move, chest taunt trying to fight the pain.

The buzzing sound stopped leaving him in blissful silence. He laid there, eyes open, not even taking notice of the shadow hovering over him from behind.

"I thought you would have learned to take more precaution," the familiar deep voice said. Duo recognized the voice. He remembered hearing it when he was on MS13. But he couldn't roll over to get up. His body ached in a way he hadn't felt in a long time. He literally wanted to be detached from his body.

"You really are susceptible to this." The buzzing happened again but he didn't have the energy to scream anymore. The only reaction he could do was breath harder out of his open mouth. "We'll have a lot of fun experimenting on this later." Darkness thankfully claimed him giving him the release he needed from the pain.

He didn't even hear Heero's frantic call for him to respond before the man stepped on the earpiece by his head crushing it.

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Heero was up as soon as he heard Duo's screams. He moved, rushing through the hallway, his gun in hand disregarding the screaming maids that saw him. He didn't care. He needed to move. If he took too long the enemy would get away.

"Duo, respond! Duo!" Heero cursed at the lack of a response. This wasn't good, not in the least. He didn't know what happened to Duo, didn't think anything could happen to him. And yet the man had said Duo was susceptible. To what? What was he weak against? Why hadn't he told the Preventers about it? No, why hadn't he told Heero about it? Was it because he didn't trust him? He bared his teeth willing his feet to move faster. He didn't care about that right now. He needed to save him and Relena.

He found the heels in the hallway and knew he was close. He did alert everyone to the situation before continuing forward. Slowly, he crept quietly into the hallway pausing in front of the door. It was quiet inside. He slipped in quietly, casting his eyes around every corner that he could to make sure he wasn't attacked. Nothing. There was no one hiding here. He checked the bathroom coming up empty before he frowned. He found Duo's broken earpiece on the ground and looked over seeing the window open. Did they go out through there? But this was the third floor. That shouldn't have been possible.

"Looking for me?" Heero turned quickly to point the gun but found a fist hitting into his cheek, sending him spinning off balance to land in a heap against the wall. He winced, feeling the harsh sting and aching cheek bone as he looked up at the man before his eyes widened. 01? What was he doing here?

"Where is…02?" Heero asked using the wall behind him to slowly push up to his feet. He gave a deep pained sigh as he pointed his gun at the OZ experiment.

"02…Duo Maxwell, correct?" At the narrowing of Heero's eyes, he chuckled pulling the white brimmed hat down over his eyes. "That's what you guys call him, right? Duo Maxwell. An expert when it comes to running and hiding, but he fails in the department of lying." Heero didn't say anything, keeping his glare on those pink unhuman eyes that seemed like they could read everything in his mind.

"Where is he?" Heero grated out between clenched teeth.

01, or Solo by his old name, looked at him before he smirked rolling his shoulder like he was trying to crack a joint. "Heero Yuy," he said staring right at him, "whose real name is Odin Lowe JR. He is the son of an assassin named Odin Lowe, a man that used to work for OZ."

"…What?"

"Odin Lowe murdered the original pacifist Heero Yuy. It is ironic that this Heero Yuy before me is named after the man his father killed." Heero frowned lowering the gun slightly as he stared at him. He'd never had anyone deft into his past so deeply. Honestly, he hadn't really known of his own real connection to Odin. But when he really thought about it, it made sense. It would explain the father figure feeling he had around him.

"How…do you…?"

"Heero Yuy, Odin Lowe JR, has many skeletons hiding in his closet. Upon joining the Preventers he killed many innocent people under the guise of following orders. He'd once even killed an innocent little girl thanks to his lacking skills of properly setting up explosives."

"…." The gun was held firmly in Heero's hand again as he glared at Solo. He ignored how his cheek sting from the punch earlier knowing it could have been much worse considering what Solo was. Was he just here to toy with him? A distraction? "How do you know all of this?"

"I know a lot of things about you guys," Solo said, the smirk dropping from his face into a more serious look. "All of you. I know Wufei Chang's colony L5 was destroyed while he used a stolen mobile suit to try and defend them. I know Trowa Barton was raised up as a mercenary before he was even potty trained well. I know Quatre Winner has a strong, hidden hatred for his father. I know…a lot of secrets behind Duo Maxwell as well. He puts a lot of things in his diary he doesn't want the world to see."

"Who are you working for?" Heero asked. "Is it OZ?"

Solo stared at him before he laughed out loud sounding like a mad man. He held his stomach with both hands not even looking like he was trying to quiet the laughter before he sobered up staring at Heero and grinning big. "OZ are just dogs under our plans. No, I don't work for OZ…at least not anymore."

"…What do you-oof!" Heero fell forward to his knees, his eyes wide open as spittle fell from his lips. He folded in on himself, the punch having hit into one of his lungs making him choke for breath.

"That's enough questions out of you," Solo said kneeling down and grabbing his hair yanking his head up. He expression seemed heartless, not a single care there for hurting the young pilot as he tossed him down on the ground. "So you've been training with 02, correct? I'm curious to see if you really think you can stop me…but then again you're proving yourself to be just as boring as the last time." Solo reached down gripping Heero's wrist holding the gun. The snap heard reached Heero's ear before the pain touched him.

He yelled clenching his eyes shut feeling tears being squeezed out between the closed lids. No one would come down this way, not into such a quiet hallway when everyone should be at the party. There was no hope of help coming. The man laughed tilting his head down to hide his eyes as he squeezed the wrist tighter feeling the bone shattering beneath his fingers. Feebly, Heero braced himself kicking out with his foot then regretting the action Solo grabbed it snapping it and bending it out of shape. The white pain almost knocked Heero out, his body going into shock at the feel of his body being broken like it was just a toy.

"I can't see what 02 sees in you," Solo said, Heero gritting his teeth as he opened his eyes to look up at him. "You're weak, pitiful, and honestly not worth the effort."

"Give…give him back!" Heero leaned his head forward biting hard on the man's hand. He expected to hear a yell, to taste the fluid of coppery blood flowing into his mouth. Instead his teeth grated against…metal? It shocked Heero when he felt it, the hard chomp hurting his teeth.

"Good night," Solo said backhanding his mouth and sending him falling on his back. "If you live through this then I'll look forward to killing you in the future." He looked up seeing the foot hovering over his face, felt the blood drain from his skin at the thought of what was going to happen next. "Try to be a little stronger next time." He didn't know what happened but the next thing he knew he was out like a light.

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Quatre gave fake laugh as he managed to break away from the group of people he was socializing with. He'd been a bit worried since he hadn't heard Heero's voice in his ear piece for a while now. The last thing he remembered hearing was Heero saying he was going to the queen's chamber to find Relena and Duo. Now though, there was complete silence. It made his chest hurt, a sign that something bad must have happened. He had a way of feeling, of his heart talking to him and warning him. This was no different. Though it was only a faint ache when it concerned others not right next to him he could still feel it.

As he got out into the hallway he ended up meeting up with Trowa who was dressed as one of the butlers. The two of them frowned as they turned as one heading down the hallway. If Heero wasn't responding then that meant he was in trouble. He even tried to contact Duo but received no reception. Something happened. They needed to figure out what. The queen was in danger and so were their comrades. He was about to turn down the hallway before his eyes caught sight of something that made his eyes go wide.

The figure that moved further down the hallway walked with a grace that no one else would ever be able to mimic. It was a walk that no other man should be able to perform and yet…that man did it.

"Quatre?" He heard Trowa's questioning voice but he was already moving taking off after the man. When he reached the end of the hallway he yelled out, catching the man before he could go around the next corner. He could feel his chest tightening, his heart threatening to burst from his chest from the strong emotions he was feeling.

"Milliardo!" The man stopped, his body turning as deep blue eyes turned staring at him. He felt his heart throb in his chest, clutching his shirt tighter as he clenched an eye shut against the pain. He saw the man turning around and starting to walk away and quickly reached out with his hand towards the figure disappearing around the corner. "Wait!" As he moved himself again leaning against the wall and looking around the corner he saw nothing, no evidence that the man had ever been there. Was he just seeing an apparition?

"Quatre, are you ok?" Trowa was beside him, holding his arm and using his own body to support him.

"I'm…I'm fine. I'll be ok." He stood up again feeling the pain in his heart receding as he frowned down the hallway. Had he just been seeing things? It seemed far too real to him. "I…I think I just saw Milliardo."

"…He's dead," Trowa said frowning slightly. "That's not possible. Remember? He died in one of our missions together." Though they had never found the body. The whole gundam known as Tallgeese had been destroyed at the time. It had put everyone in shock to see one of their own Preventer gundam pilots destroyed so easily thanks to the use of the self-destruct button inside. Preventer of Division one that worked alongside Heero and used the code name Wind. It'd been a terrible blow to the Preventers and one that none of them could ever forget. Maybe he really was seeing things. "Do you need rest?"

"No…no, we have to check up on the others." He looked up at Trowa showing the confidence in his eyes again. "Let's keep moving. We're wasting time if they're really in danger." At Trowa's nod the two of them walked quickly heading once more to the queen's chamber. He'd worry about his little hallucinations later. Right now, it was important that he find out what happened to Heero, Duo, and the queen.

TBC…

Yeah the whole thing that happened to Heero wasn't originally supposed to happen but...well... ^^ Hope you enjoyed.